Ireland's "golden generation" of final-year university students are supremely confident about the future, with most expecting good jobs, foreign holidays, buy-to-let investment properties, families, children . . . and that's before they're even 30, writes Gráinne Faller

FINAL-YEAR university students are products of both boom time Ireland and the digital age. They are the golden generation - a different breed. So when these students gazed into the crystal ball for the Ireland Graduates Survey 2008 what sort of future did they see? Well it's bright, it's glittering and amid the gloom of the downturn, the sheer self-confidence of the class of 2008 shines through. These are no downtrodden children of the 1980s, and a glimpse at what they see in store for themselves provides a fascinating insight.

As they stand, poised to enter the real world, gaining a 2.1 honours degree or higher is a given - 86 per cent declared that to be their aim. Unsurprisingly, Corkonians were the most confident - 94 per cent of final-year students at UCC expected to be in those top tiers at graduation time.

Yet students are in no hurry to enter the world of work, with two-thirds opting to pursue further study, travel or whatever. A third of final-year students will go on to postgraduate study because they feel "under-qualified"for the world of work. NUI Galway students were the most likely to plan further study, with 46 per cent stating that as their objective.

The remaining third expect to enter the jobs market this year. Graduates of DCU and UL are most likely to be looking for work and, interestingly, they are also the most likely to have gained some form of work experience during their degree.

Confounding the notion of Ireland's newfound entrepreneurial spirit, by far the largest proportion of students expressed an ambition to work for a large national or international company - 16 per cent want to work in a Government or public-sector organisation, while a mere five per cent expressed a desire to set up their own business.

On average, graduates expect to earn €27,500 in their first job - an increase of six per cent on last year. The concept of a "job for life" is practically dead for the class of 2008. They aim to spend on average just over two-and-a-half years in their first job. Almost a quarter expect to have worked for three or more organisations over the next decade.

During their 20s, more than half expect to live and work in a different country, or at least have holidays in no fewer than 10 foreign countries. Further education is valued as important, and many expect to have further qualifications and postgraduate courses under their belts.

The only nod to the downturn is in the view of the jobs market. Although a third of final-year students believe that there are plenty of jobs for graduates, that's down from 42 per cent last year. More than half of students think that there are not enough jobs to go around.

Almost a third expect to have reached a senior management position by the time they're 30 and one in five expect to have increased their starting salary of €27,500 to €100,000 by the time they turn 30.

Home ownership is the most common long-term aim and, with two-thirds of students expecting to buy a house or a flat within the next 10 years. Interestingly, over a tenth of students hope to have invested in a buy-to-let property.

WHO ARE THE class of 2008? They are final year students in our seven universities. Most are aged 21 or 22 and 55 per cent are women. They have had an active college life with more than 40 per cent having been an active member of a society, club or sports team in university. Two thirds held a part-time job during term time. Almost 30 per cent undertook voluntary or charity work in university.

The revolution also appears to be dead, with just 11 per cent having participated in student protests during their college years.

Education
Twenty-three per cent of 2008 graduates expect a first class honours degree; 63 per cent expect a 2.1; 34 per cent intend to do a postgraduate course after graduating; 47 per cent want to have completed a postgraduate course by the age of 30; 53 per cent aim to have achieved a professional qualification by the age of 30.

Work
KPMG is the most desirable place to work for the class of 2008, with Google coming in second. The big companies are the most popular employers with almost 40 per cent of students expressing a desire to join that world. About a third want to work for a small or medium-sized firm or the public sector. Only five per cent want to work freelance or set up a business.

Students expect to stay in their first job for less than three years and almost a quarter expect to have worked for three or more organisations throughout their 20s. Of the third of students looking for graduate work, half have already accepted a definite job offer.

Travel
The class of 2008 are a well-travelled bunch and aim to see a lot more of the world. A third have already spent three months or more living in a foreign country. Another third have been backpacking or travelling overseas for a month or longer.

Three-in-ten want to work overseas, with 55 per cent expecting to have lived and worked overseas by the time they're 30. More than 40 per cent hope to have holidayed in at least 10 foreign countries by the same time.

Money and family
The average debt on leaving college is €3,700, with the figure for graduates of UCC and TCD rising to €4,500. However, just over half of students have no debt leaving college thanks to part-time work, company sponsorship and generous parents.

Somewhat surprisingly, more than 40 per cent expect to be married and almost 30 per cent expect to have children by 30. And more than 10 per cent of those surveyed said they expected to have invested in a buy-to-let or a holiday property within the same time.

Methodology: how it works
The Ireland Graduate Careers Survey is Ireland's largest and most detailed annual graduate recruitment survey. Based on direct interviews with 2,681 final-year students from the seven universities in the Republic of Ireland - TCD, UCD, DCU, NUI Galway, UCC, UL, NUI Maynooth - it is also supported by in-depth research with 252 student job hunters.

Interviews for the survey were timed to take place during the final week of February and the first week of March - as late in the academic year as possible. The survey was conducted by British-based High Fliers Research Limited and sponsored by The Irish Times. The company conducts similar research in the UK and Australia and New Zealand.

Employers who participated in the 2008 research programme and helped fund the project were Accenture, Arthur Cox, Bank of Ireland, CIMA, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Defence Forces.